A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I do not own YGO. This chapter is dedicated to animefantickid25. :)
The Best Man Feud
Bliss. Sheer bliss.
He was in heaven.
Mai had stayed in his apartment all day until very late at night, going on and on about the little things that needed to be prepared for their wedding. All he had done, besides picking which napkin color and design was best, was nod his head and smile. The little things weren't all that interesting anyway, which was why they were labeled "the little things". Mai had finally left (after Joey walked her to her door again to make sure she was safe) and he had arrived back in his apartment at half past midnight. Due to the unfixable leak under his kitchen sink, which would remain unfixable until he paid off other things, sleep had been stolen from him and he had been chasing it for the longest time until…!
Ah, he caught it. Joey was sleeping ever so peacefully under the covers, snoring like there was no tomorrow. However, tomorrow was Saturday, an important day according to Mai, so he was unable to dream on like there really was no tomorrow.
Why?
What a silly question!
Who else in their right mind because of undying excitement would unlock his door because they had a spare key and wake him from his slumber?
"Time to get up!" Mai declared at seven in the morning, opening his bedroom door. "We're going out for breakfast with Yugi and the others, don't you remember?" She proceeded to sashay over to the window and shamelessly opened the blinds, revealing a busy downtown with sunlight pouring into his room. Her long, blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders in waves, and she wore a black, fashionable jogging outfit, even though she didn't plan on jogging. Weekdays she went to the spa for a workout right after her work at the downtown salon. From 8 in the morning straight to 2 in the afternoon, she worked her butt off for good-paying customers.
At that moment Joey chose to let out a rather deafening snore and turn over to the other side. "Jes' a few more minutes…zzzz…" Joey was off in lullaby land once more. Sighing heavily, Mai walked over to the bottom edge of his bed and yanked the covers off of him. This immediately woke him up because he suddenly felt, well, cold…and exposed. "Hey! Who's there?" He demanded, blinking and sitting up. His brown eyes focused on the beauteous vision before him.
"Good Morning Hun." Mai smirked, crossing her arms.
"Mai?" Joey's eyes drifted downward to what he was wearing: boxers. "Gah!" He grabbed the covers from the floor and covered himself. "What are you doing here so early! And I'm not wearing any pajamas!"
"Oh give it a rest!" Mai headed out to his small living room. "You look no different than if you were going to the beach. Now hurry up and get dressed! Our breakfast date is in half an hour!"
"Half an hour?" Joey glanced at his clock radio, seeing the red digital numbers 8:03 A.M. He was slightly confused; he had made no breakfast date with Mai—oh yes! The day after he had proposed to Mai, they had called all their friends (and family too of course) and even sent out invitations, courtesy of Mai who used her charm and good looks to get the stationary store clerk to have ready and send out all 200 invitations. Needless to say, he was invited too.
This was two weeks ago. Bakura even flew out from England the week after and even Tristan, who had flown in from California, had been keeping in touch with everyone including Serenity. Tristan…Serenity…Duke was bound to be there too! Had they rid themselves of all grudges and hostilities? Most likely not. "Grr…"
"Joey, its five after 8!"
"Ack! I have less than twenty-five minutes to get ready!" Joey jumped out of bed and raced for the bathroom and started up the shower. It wasn't until ten seconds in did he realize he had forgotten to shut the door and undress himself and turn the water temperature up a notch. Thus, he found himself under cold water with only his boxers on, with a cool draft floating in. "Argh! The morning of all mornings!"
"For Pete's sake, what are you doing in the shower with your clothes on!" Mai began to laugh her head off, sitting on the couch in the living room, watching an early morning soap opera. The bathroom was visible from the living room.
"Tell me something I don't know! Whoa!" Joey shouted back, having almost slipped on the floor because of wet feet. He slammed the door shut.
Minutes later, time found the happy couple speed walking to a local restaurant. It wasn't too far from either apartment building so there was no need to drive. It would just add unnecessary pollution to the air anyway. "You better hope the buffet is still on!" Mai told him as he held the door open for her. "Look! It's crowded already!"
"I already told you I'm sorry!" Joey shook his head. It was another one of their arguments. They happened from time to time, ranging from lateness to annoyance because of stupidity.
"Oh never mind." Mai stopped short when they reached the waitress who had a fake smile plastered on her face, waiting to hand them menus and direct them to their seats. "Excuse me, some people are waiting for us and—"
"Mai! Joey! Over here!" A very familiar voice, one that Joey had not heard in a long time, called out.
"Is that…Yugi!" Joey's jaw dropped open as he and his fiancée spotted the man in question…
"He's—! He's—!" Clearly Mai was at a loss of words. Through Joey, they had only communicated by email and Joey hadn't seen him since graduation from high school.
There standing in front of a window with a table full of friendly faces was Yugi Muto…and he was a few inches taller! "Hi guys!" Yugi's voice was even…deeper! It had a very faint resemblance to Yami Yugi's voice. "It's great to see you two!"
Mai, slack-jawed as well, approached the table slowly with Joey right behind her, just as shocked, especially when they saw the appearances of the rest of the gang including Mokuba Kaiba...
Wait—what?
"Don't tell me Kaiba's here too!" Joey pointed at Mokuba as they neared the table, causing only a few people to look up this time.
"Oh that's right!" Mai stopped and turned to her future husband. "I invited the Kaiba brothers too, as well as…" She named names that were vaguely familiar to Joey. "I want everyone we know there!" Obviously she couldn't care less if they were once enemies or not. Mai was so caught up in her wedding and wanted tons of people there!
"Weevil! Rex! Mako? Valon?" Joey nearly shouted. "Why him! I don't want him at my wedding!"
"Oh don't worry about it." Mai brushed him off and resumed walking to the table of friends. She was well aware of the rivalry between Joey and Valon for her and it probably was still there…it boosted her ego generously to know that two guys had been fighting over her. Not actually literally…but the rivalry had been there. "Now come on, aren't you hungry?"
The mention of food lifted his spirits as they finally reached the table. "Yugi! Tristan! Serenity! Tea!" Joey turned to the other end. "Duke! Bakura! Mokuba!" He paused. "Wow, you guys all look different…"
"Oh Joey I'm so happy for you two!" Serenity stood up from her seat and moved over to hug him. She then hugged Mai. "I can't believe it!" Serenity had a job at a large department store in the city, a place flourishing with many customers.
"I think we all saw it coming!" Tristan remarked with a grin. "Hey old buddy! It's been a long time!" Tristan wore a sweater with the name of his former college on the front and back. He was tanned, no doubt from the California sun. Tristan was planning on moving back to Domino City however, for obvious reasons.
"How's it going, Wheeler?" Duke crossed his arms. He was still wearing dice earrings but wore more sophisticated clothing. He had hit it big time in business.
"Hi Joey!" Mokuba added his own greeting. Mokuba was about eighteen years old by now and kept his long mane in a ponytail. He was still vice president of Kaiba Corporation but Seto usually did all the work for the company. Mokuba chose to handle the newly built Kaiba Land in Canada and was the Chieftain, so to speak, of all Kaiba Land amusement parks internationally.
"I'm so excited for you guys!" Tea exclaimed, her once shoulder-length brown hair now longer. She worked part-time at a bookstore and part-time as a dance instructor, and frequently appeared in musicals.
"Me too!" Yugi smiled at the bewildered couple. Yugi was now an assistant to the professor at the local college that taught all about Egyptian Mythology, Greek Mythology, and others of the sort. This was no surprise.
"Hello Joey! Mai!" Bakura gave a nod at each of them, grinning. "It has been quite a while." Last but not least, Bakura took an interest in travelling and was co-hosting a TV series with his father on different places in the world…
"…" Joey was speechless. All of his friends had changed so much in five years! He felt like he hadn't changed at all. Come to think of it…no, he had changed but not much according to Mai, fondly of course.
"Well, aren't you going to sit down?" Mai broke him out of his thoughts. Everyone else was staring at him expectantly. One empty chair beside Mai was also waiting, seemingly staring at him expectantly too.
"Oh, right." Joey grabbed the back of the chair and sat down, pushing himself close to the table. An untouched menu lay in front of him. Of course many people had once touched it, which is kind of a disgusting thought, but Joey opened it anyway, not looking at the gang. It was just so, so weird to see them looking so different than what he was used to.
Apparently everyone else noticed his reluctance to look up. "Hey Joey, are you going to be ordering from the menu or from the buffet?" Tristan asked.
Joey looked up at that and saw that everyone was waiting for him. All had left their menus unopened for the waiters to pick up again. "How about you guys go get your food. Joey and I will wait here and watch the table." Serenity suggested, a little more open than she was many years ago.
"Good idea." Duke smiled and stood up. Tristan shot him a mean glance but it went unnoticed.
Everybody followed suit while Mai leaned over close to Joey. "Joey, is something wrong?" She asked, used to his sudden mood changes.
"Nope." Joey closed the menu and offered a cheerful grin. "Nothing at all!"
"All right…" Mai, still unsure, got up herself and followed the gang to the buffet area.
Serenity, who sat across from her brother, started up a conversation. "Well, I already know how you've been doing during these past couple of years." She began, smiling. "So I'll ask you about your wedding plans."
Joey leaned back in his chair. "We've got a local pastor hired and we're having the wedding outside instead…at the beach." Mai hadn't yet chosen her bride's maids and the maid of honor but she was planning to do so today. The wedding was in three weeks!
"That sounds nice!" Serenity went on. "Did you pick your best man yet?"
Time stopped. Joey's jaw once again dropped open. "B-best man?" He stammered. He and Tristan had been friends the longest but Yugi had proved time and time to be a great friend as well. Duke and Bakura weren't exactly being considered since he hadn't been friends with them as long or was as close so at least he was only risking the loss of one friend…or two. "I, uh, well, you see, I was, um…" He trailed off, one hand behind his head, another goofy, guilty grin to complete it. "I, er, haven't picked one yet!" He finished.
Serenity's eyes widened. "You haven't?" She too seemed to realize the situation.
"I'm picking one today!" He said quickly, noticing that Bakura was returning. "Let's talk about this later, huh? I've got a buffet to devour!" He jumped out of his chair, nodding at Bakura when he passed by, and set a course for the main course.
"Some things never change." Bakura commented as he sat down at the table. "You can go now." Serenity thanked him and stood up to go gather her own meal.
At the buffet place…
"So, Joey…" Tristan began. He was standing in front of the Wheeler, inspecting the crispy bacon from behind the glass guard. "Have you chosen a best man yet?"
Yugi, who was in front of Tristan, perked up at the mention of a best man. Who had Joey chosen? Both knew it had to be one of the two of them.
Joey nearly choked on a piece of bacon from his plate. Obviously he had already served himself some bacon before Tristan could. 'Gee! What's with everyone and this best man stuff!' He wondered and coughed away from the food onto a…elderly woman.
"Well!" The elderly woman frowned at the younger human being. "Disgusting! How dare you?"
"I didn't see you there!" Joey defended himself. "Honest! I was trying not to choke here, you know!" Be it a child or an adult, Joey's temper was always aroused when accusatory remarks were shot his way.
"What have you got yourself into this time, pal?" Tristan groaned, seeing the woman was not sufficed at all by Joey's justification. He said it rather rudely anyway.
"Hubert!" The frail woman called out from her husband.
An elderly man appeared at her side, seemingly out of nowhere. "Yes, Nora?"
"Man…she's got you whipped, doesn't she?" Joey smirked at the man.
"Joey Wheeler!"
"Ack! Mai, I swear, I didn't know she was there!" Joey pleaded to the younger woman who had now joined the little group.
"What were you saying about the old man now?" Tristan gloated, moving on ahead. "C'mon, you're holding up the line!" He gestured to the annoyed line of people behind his friend.
"You need to teach them good manners, while they're young!" The elderly woman addressed the future Mrs. Wheeler.
"I'm not his mother." Mai replied curtly, frowning at Joey anyway.
"Makes no difference." The woman turned her nose to the air and left for her own table, accompanied by her husband.
"Grr! Why I oughta—"
Mai silenced him. "Joey, please don't make anymore scenes." She then made her way back to their table.
"I didn't start it! Argh!" Joey moved forward and, using the tongs, grabbed himself several sausages. "Women!"
Serenity, the last of their company, behind him, sighed. "Joey, just get your food."
The minutes ticked by as the gang reminisced and laughed, enjoying their food and each other's company. All learned that Yugi and Tea had been dating for a year now, and that the Kaiba brothers were quite successful across the ocean. "I watch your show every week!" Mokuba declared to Bakura. "Where are you going to go next?"
"Hmm…that's a good question." Bakura paused, setting his fork down on the table. "I think Father is going to Argentina and I should be going to Greenland."
"So, are you two gonna get married any time soon?" Joey grinned at his tri-colored friend who blushed in return and looked down at his breakfast.
"It's too early for that, Joey." Yugi then responded.
"Yeah, sure!" Joey leaned back in his own chair and folded his arms behind his head, basking in the glory of being known as the man getting married.
Later on, after Mokuba paid the bill, the gang made their way outside. Yugi and Tristan both led Joey away from the group, careful not to arouse suspicion. "Remember what I was saying earlier?" Tristan said in a low voice and crossed his arms. "We want to know who your best man is going to be."
Joey twitched visibly and nervously. "Uh, do you have to know now?" He looked at both Yugi and Tristan and saw that they were both serious.
"Joey, I don't want this, this issue to make us all angry with each other but," Yugi took a deep breath. "We've been good friends for a long time, Joey."
"I've been your best friend longer!" Tristan added, shooting Yugi a frown.
"Yes, but I've saved your life a couple of times, Joey." Yugi pressed, returning the frown.
"That may be but who's the one that made fun of Kaiba with you?"
"Joey, who's the one who taught you more about friendship?"
"And who's the one that doesn't shove his winning-all-and-every-game streak in your face!"
"And who's the one that doesn't care about winning games but you!"
"And who's the one—"
"AH! Enough, enough, enough!" Joey rubbed his temples. "Tristan, you are my best friend. But Yugi is also my best friend. So you see…" He hesitated, still unsure of who to pick. Both were good choices and both had stuck by him through thick or thin. Tristan was good in a fight and Yugi was good in a tag team game of Duel Monsters. Tristan had been his best friend forever but Yugi had equally proved his friendship to be just as true.
Both men stared at him expectantly. "Well I've decided on…" Joey glanced at the two again, seeing their dead serious looks once again. "The thing is…er…I, I…" He stopped and then sighed, reaching into his pocket. "Here, let's flip a coin…"